Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

GENRE  Modernist fiction

FIRST PUBLISHED  1925

PUBLISHED BY The Hogarth Press (1925) My copy, Vintage (2000)

THEMES Disillusionment, society, high society, post war London, post traumatic stress, communication/lack of communication, inner thoughts vs action, being in love, parties, flowers, suicide

READING TIME (audio, BBC Sounds) Approximately 7 hours (read just under half, listened to the rest)

PURCHASED FROM The Works. Listened via BBC Sounds. 

PLOT  Set over a day in  London, in the summer of 1923, Mrs Dalloway prepares for a party. A friend returns from India and Clarissa Dalloway reflects on the past. The novel follows the thoughts of several characters through the style of a stream of consciousness - their inner worlds are the plot.

MY REFLECTIONS 

The style of writing immediately had me gripped. It's so unique. It took some getting used to though. I could easily understand someone giving up on it. I first kept re-reading parts to make sure I'd understood the jumps. It's a peculiar one to review this one, because I really did appreciate the writing , but when it finished was left feeling, oh, is that it?

The stream of consciousness introduces us to different characters in the same circle of high society London, and continually passes us between their minds. What they have in common is disillusionment. No-one seems genuinely happy, particularly Mrs Dalloway, and of course, shell-shocked Septimus. There really isn't much of a plot; this book is about the inner lives of people, controlled and suppressed by society, what we say vs what we don't say, what we do and don't do because of others. 

I see the repetition of the sound of Big Ben as a metaphor of society's oppressive authority and the image of flowers as symbolic of Clarissa's attempts to express herself. The novel is full of insightful subtleties and similes. 

I read just under half of it and listened to the rest via BBC Sounds. Sian Thomas does a wonderful job of reading it and I recommend listening to this version if you're considering audio. You may find it easier to listen to than to read, depending on your preferences. However, I would try reading this book without audio for at least some of it in order to sample the full impact of Woolf's writing style. 

Don't read this if you like action, read it if you're in the mood for something poetic and softly poignant. I would like to read more Woolf. 

*Updated edit. I have now discovered that some BBC Sounds audio books are shortened versions of the original. I believe this is one of them. Please bear this in mind*